The applicant is also the inventor of a cloth pleater claimed in a copending design application entitled "Cloth Pleater", Ser. No. 871,915 filed Jan. 24, 1978.
This invention relates generally to an apparatus for pleating cloth or articles made therefrom, such as draperies, and a method of use of the apparatus in pleating of the cloth.
More particularly, this invention relates to an apparatus used in pleating of a fabric material which has considerable inherent flexibility, thereby allowing the fabric to be easily interwoven between a series of parallel pleating slats engaged by guide means on two end members of the pleater.
Different embodiments of apparatus for pleating plain cloth and finished articles of clothing for human consumption, such as skirts and curtains, are well known in the art and have been used for many years. Various cloth pleaters known in the prior art differ from each other in their construction and method of use, but generally speaking such devices comprise a number of parallel slats mounted on a frame. The cloth is usually placed between two adjacent slats thereby imparting a desired crease to the fabric. The slats may or may not be movable in relation to each other and in relation to the frame on which they are mounted. However, it appears from the prior art that it is preferable to have at least some of the slats movable along the length of the frame. The prior art, due to relatively heavy fabric used for pleating, is often constructed to have some of the slats movable upwardly from the plane of the frame. It is also known in the art to use crimping strips instead of movable or stationary pleating slats for pleating of the fabric. Exemplary of prior art pleaters using parallel slats is Terry, U.S. Pat. No. 2,863,592, wherein the pleaters are mounted on a U-shaped frame and are spaced along the width of the frame. The slats are restrained from the movement along the frame by spacing collars placed between adjacent slats at one end thereof. The cloth is pleated by inserting a wet, doublefolded thickness of the fabric between the adjacent slats and allowing the fabric to dry before it is removed from the pleater. Matthews et al., U.S. Pat. No. 1,217,874 and Eder, U.S. Pat. No. 669,743, also relate to fabric pleaters having a number of parallel slats which are used for pleating the fabric. However, in both references at least one half of the slats are pivoted at only one end thereof to the guide rod on the frame, thereby allowing the other end of such pivotally-attached slat to be raised from the plane of the pleater. The fabric is interwoven between the alternating slats and it appears that the provision of the pleater with some of the slats movable in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the pleater is necessary for facilitating pleating of the relatively thick and inflexible material for which the pleaters disclosed therein are used. Steam is applied to the pleated fabric in Eder, however, Matthews et al. do not disclose the application of steam or heat to the pleated fabric. Lehmann, U.S. Pat. No. 437,212, Clark et al., U.S. Pat. No. 410,653, and Castleman, U.S. Pat. No. 664,721 all relate to fabric pleating apparatus wherein continuous crimping strips are substituted for parallel pleating slats of the above-discussed prior art.
It is seen therefore that although the prior art is replete with examples of devices and methods for pleating fabrics, most of such devices are relatively cumbersome in operation and are concerned with pleating of relatively heavy and thick material used for the making of window curtains and pleated skirts. The design of the prior art apparatus reflects this utility by providing the pleaters with relatively movable pleating slats or crimping strips. Where parallel pleating slats are used in the prior art pleaters, the slats are restrained from free movement along the width of the pleater at one end of the slat. Alternatively, the slats are free to move along the guiding means of the pleater, but at least some of these slats are pivoted at one end thereof to the guiding means, therefore allowing the opposite end of the slat to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the pleater. Provision of the pivoted slats appears to compensate for the relatively inflexible fabrics used with the apparatus of the prior art.